Year in Review 2012: July through September

Editor’s note: Year in Review highlights some of the headlines from The Item in 2012. January through March ran Dec. 7. April through June ran Dec. 14. July through September is highlighted in today’s issue. The rest of the year will run next week.

July

Mary Boyd and Bob Johnson were the grand marshals for Bolton’s July 4 parade.

Meadowbrook Orchards, in Sterling, celebrated its 100th anniversary. The farm was started by John Chandler in 1912.

Tom Haemer, of Clinton, was inducted into the Clinton High School-Nypro FIRST Hall of Fame.

The Nashoba Valley Regional Emergency Communications Center, at Devens, was awarded $1.8 million in state funding. The regional center will service Lancaster, Harvard, Lunenburg and Devens when construction is complete. Construction is expected to be completed by May 2013.

Former Selectman Alexandra Turner was selected to be Lancaster’s new Council on Aging director.

Athletic fees were increased for participating in sports in Clinton schools, as fall sports were restored at Clinton Middle School.

The Clinton Rotary club recognized Gordon Lankton with a tree-planting ceremony at the Museum of Russian Icons, which Lankton founded at 203 Union St., Clinton.

The project to add a chairlift in the Houghton Building, Main Street, Bolton, allowing people with disabilities to make it to the second-floor cable studio space, was approved by Bolton selectmen, but only after discussing how the concept should apply to town hall, as well.

The former Future Electronics site was sold to a Mass. firm that would consolidate operations at the Route 117 site. Paragon Communications bought the site for $8 million, according to records in the Registry of Deeds.

August

Jessica Brody was hired to be the new director of the Clinton Parks and Recreation Department, taking over for Daria Janda, who retired after over 30 years in the position.

Yanna Nikitas, 11, of Sterling, joined the national touring company performing “Billy Elliot the Musical.”

The Clinton School Committee approved spending an additional $215,242 from its School Choice account to bring back five positions eliminated, including the high school librarian.

Robert Rouleau, of Clinton, was set to start as the new assistant principal at Clinton Middle School.

The Clinton 76ers won their third Central New England Baseball Association championship in four years.

Parry Graham was ready to take over as principal at Nashoba Regional High School

Under intense scrutiny following his handling of the Wachusett Regional School District’s budget, Superintendent Thomas Pandiscio announced he would resign, staying in the position “until a suitable replacement is found.”

The cause of a drier explosion and fire on Woodruff Road, Clinton was under investigation by the state fire marshal’s office. The fire left homeowner Doreen Weeks with burns, especially on her legs.

It was four championships in a row for MacLeods-Legacy, after the team took a 9-6 decision from JR Grady-O’Connell’s to capture the Clinton Women’s Softball League championship.

Some Lancaster officials said they felt “blindsided” after Nashoba Superintendent Michael Wood presented an accelerated timeline for new science labs at the high school. Wood told selectmen the grant application was submitted in January and, on June 6, the school district was informed it was part of the pool and, on June 11, was approved to “join the grant process.” The project to retrofit nine science labs would cost an estimated $5 million to $10 million. The Mass. School Building Authority would reimburse 47 percent of the project costs through a special grant program.

Clinton and Sterling were full of smiles as both the Clinton Olde Home Day and Sterling Fair drew crowds.

The Clinton School Committee voted to accept the recommendation of Daniel Gale for the newly-created position of business manager for the school district.

A mosquito in a collection pond in Berlin, near the Bolton line, tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis.

Top-seeded Firewater and Wine took a 15-10 decision from second-seeded Corrective Chiropractive, winning the Lancaster Coed Softball League championship for the third time in the seven years the league has been running.

After years of effort, and months of debate, the Clinton World War I memorial found a home in Hamilton Square, also known as Depot Square, through which many of the soldiers on the monument went to board trains, on the way to the war.

The 19 Carter community center, in Berlin, was jacked up, making way to replace the foundation of the building.

Faced with the financial blues after rain cut attendance at this year’s Bolton Fair, organizers proposed a Rock and Blues Festival, but selectmen initially shot the idea down, stating concerns over public safety due to a BYOB advertisement, as well as money owed to the town. Over a series of several meetings, selectmen approved the entertainment license, with increased police presence to ensure safety.